1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to canopy tents with automatic umbrella-type collapsible frames designed to be easily and simply stretched or collapsed in the same manner as expected from the collapsible frames of conventional automatic umbrellas, thus allowing a user to easily and simply pitch or close the tent and, more particularly, to a canopy tent with an automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame having a spring fitted over the shank part of the rib holder, the spring having high restoring force and automatically stretching the ribs, thus allowing a user to easily, simply and quickly pitch or close the tent, in addition to simplifying the construction of the frame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
So-called xe2x80x9ccanopy tentsxe2x80x9d are designed to be easily, simply and quickly pitched or closed, and so they have been preferably used for outdoor applications, such as during camping or fishing.
Such canopy tents are also so-called xe2x80x9ccollapsible tentsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfolding tentsxe2x80x9d. The canopy tent has a collapsible frame designed to allow a user to easily, simply and quickly pitch or close the tent on a desired place by stretching or collapsing the frame.
Such canopy tents have been classified into several types. For example, a canopy tent with an automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame has been proposed and used in the prior art. The conventional automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame for such canopy tents is designed to be easily and simply stretched or collapsed in the same manner as expected from the collapsible frames of conventional automatic umbrellas. An example of such conventional automatic umbrella-type collapsible frames for canopy tents is shown in FIG. 6. As shown in the drawing, the conventional automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame for canopy tents comprises a lower shank 110, a rib holder 120, a spreader holder 130, a plurality of collapsible ribs 140 and a plurality of collapsible spreaders 150.
The shank 110 has an internally-threaded opening 111 at its top end, and is selectively connected to an externally-threaded lower end 121 of the rib holder 120 through a screw-type engagement so as to allow the spreader holder 130 to be movable along the shank 110 upward or downward when pitching or closing the tent.
The rib holder 120, selectively connected to the top end of the shank 110 through a screw-type engagement, is provided with a retractable bolt 122 on its shank part for selectively holding the spreader holder 130 on the shank part of the rib holder 120 at a desired position when the tent is completely pitched. A fixed ring is mounted to the top end of the rib holder 120. This fixed ring is regularly toothed on its circumferential surface to form a plurality of rib holding notches 123, with two first projections 124 provided on opposite side surfaces of each notch 123 for holding each of the ribs 140 at the notch 123. A canopy holding disc 125 is mounted to the top surface of the fixed ring of the rib holder 120 using a plurality of locking screws, and holds the canopy to the fixed ring.
The spreader holder 130 is fitted over the shank 110 such that it is movable along the shank 110 and the shank part of the rib holder 120 upward and downward relative to the retractable bolt 122 of the rib holder 120. This spreader holder 130 has a ring, which is provided with the same number of spreader holding notches 132 as that of the rib holding notches 123 of the rib holder 120. Each of the spreader holding notches 132 is provided with two second projections 133 on its opposite side surfaces for holding each of the spreaders 150. The spreader holder 130 is also provided with an actuating button 131 on its shank part. This button 131 is selectively operated by a user to retract the bolt 122 into the shank part of the rib holder 120, and releases the spreader holder 30 from the bolt 122.
The collapsible ribs 140 form the ceiling frame of the tent when the tent is fully pitched on a support surface, and are provided with inclined slits 141 at their inside ends. The ribs 140 are thus hinged to the projections 124 formed in the rib holding notches 123 of the rib holder 120. The ribs 140 are rotatable around the projections 124 in opposite directions when the tent is pitched or closed. The outside ends of the ribs 140 are provided with spreader connectors 142 for connecting the spreaders 150 to the ribs 140. An extension 140a is connected to each of spreader connectors 142. These extensions 140a form the sidewall frame of the tent when the tent is fully pitched on a support surface.
The collapsible spreaders 150 are hinged to the projections 133 formed at the notches 132 of the spreader holder 130. When the tent is fully pitched on a support surface, the spreaders 150 spread and open the ribs 140 to fully stretch the canopy of the tent.
However, the canopy tent having such a conventional automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame is problematic due to structural defect of the frame as follows.
That is, when it is desired to collapse the tent, the shank 110 must be connected to the externally-threaded lower end 121 of the rib holder 120 through a screw-type engagement so as to allow the spreader holder 130 to be fully movable downward along the shank 110. It is also necessary to remove the shank 110 from the rib holder 120 and to separately, carefully keep the shank 110 after the tent is completely pitched on a support surface since the shank 110 may disturb persons inside the pitched tent. Therefore, the frame does not allow a user to easily, simply or quickly pitch or close the canopy tent, in addition to causing a problem of separately keeping the shank 110 removed from the frame of the fully pitched tent.
The tension of the tent in a fully pitched position is supported only by the engagement of the retractable bolt 122 with the actuating button 131, and so the bolt 122 and button 131 are overloaded to be easily broken. When at least one of the bolt 122 and button 131 is broken as described above, it is impossible to pitch or close the tent. In such a case, it is necessary to repair the broken bolt 122 or button 131; otherwise, the owner of the tent is forced to purchase a new tent.
Another problem experienced by the conventional automatic umbrella-type frame for canopy tents resides in that it is difficult to move the spreader holder 130 along the shank 110 and the shank part of the rib holder 120 when pitching or closing the tent. That is, since the canopy tent with such an automatic umbrella-type frame is large in its size and heavy in its weight, different from conventional automatic umbrellas, it is difficult to move the spreader holder 130.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a canopy tent, which is provided with an automatic umbrella-type collapsible frame designed to be easily and simply stretched or collapsed in the same manner as expected from the collapsible frames of conventional automatic umbrellas so as to allow a user to easily and simply pitch or close the tent, and of which the frame has a spring fitted over the shank part of the rib holder, the spring having high restoring force and automatically stretching the ribs, thus allowing a user to easily, simply and quickly pitch or close the tent, in addition to simplifying the construction of the frame.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a canopy tent, comprising: a collapsible frame operated in a manner similar to that of the frames of conventional automatic umbrellas so as to pitch or close the tent, the frame including: a rib holder rotatably holding a plurality of collapsible ribs at its upper end while allowing the ribs to be stretchable in a radial direction when pitching the tent, with a stopper mounted to the lower end of the rib holder, and a rope connector integrally formed at the lower end of the rib holder and used for holding a tension rope extending from the center of the ceiling part of the tent""s canopy; a spreader holder movably fitted over the shank part of the rib holder such that the spreader holder is movable upward and downward along the shank part, the spreader holder rotatably holding a plurality of collapsible spreaders while allowing the spreaders to be stretchable in a radial direction when pitching the tent, the spreaders being also hinged to the ribs respectively; and an elastic spring fitted over the shank part of the rib holder, and used for biasing the spreader holder so as to maintain a predetermined gap between the spreader holder and the top end of the rib holder when pitching the tent.